Ex-Chetham’s music school teacher arrested in child sexual abuse inquiry

Man is accused of offences against pupil at prestigious Manchester private school in the late 1970s

A former teacher at Chetham’s school of music in Manchester has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a 15-year-old pupil.

The 65-year-old is suspected of the indecent assault and attempted buggery of the girl when she was studying at the prestigious Manchester private school in the late 1970s.

He was arrested by detectives investigating historic sexual abuse at Chetham’s and the nearby Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester.

The man was arrested on 26 June and has been bailed until 24 September, pending further inquiries. He is the third man to be arrested as part of the abuse inquiry, codenamed Operation Kiso.

In February violinist Wen Zhou Li, a tutor at both Chetham’s and the RNCM, was arrested on suspicion of rape. He denies the charges but has been suspended pending the police investigation. His bail has been extended until 26 July while police continue to make inquiries.

Greater Manchester police said he was being questioned in relation to the alleged indecent assault of a woman in 1994 when she was a pupil at the RNCM.

McTier taught part-time at the RNCM from 1984 to 1996 and is now an internationally acclaimed musician. He was bailed until August and continues to teach at the Royal Academy.

Operation Kiso began in February following the conviction of Michael Brewer, director of music at Chetham’s until 1994. He was found guilty of sexually abusing a pupil at the school when she was 14 and 15. His victim, Frances Andrade, killed herself after giving evidence against him.

After Brewer was convicted alongside his ex-wife, Hilary Kay Brewer, Andrade’s family made an impassioned plea for other victims of sexual abuse to come forward.

Oliver Andrade, one of Frances’s four children, said of his mother: “One of her hopes was that the bravery she exhibited, and the other stories she knew would come out during the trial, would mean that other students who had also suffered abuse at Chetham’s would be able to receive justice.”

Sentencing the Brewers in March, the judge, Martin Rudland, said: “Perhaps one of the few positive features to have emerged from this case is the resulting close scrutiny of this type of behaviour amongst those who should know better.”

In May the Guardian revealed that 39 music teachers had been identified as potential suspects in Operation Kiso.

A Greater Manchester police spokesman said: “Of those, 10 are being proactively investigated, five are believed to be deceased, 12 relate to third-party reports and a further 12 relate to matters that either do not reach a criminal threshold, whether historic or otherwise, or where statutory time limits do not allow for a prosecution to take place, or are matters that will be passed to another police department to investigate.”

The 10 being proactively investigated have or have had connections with either Chetham’s or RNCM or both, and/or have taught music privately. More than 30 women have come forward to allege abuse by music teachers.